Naval officers attack policewoman, beat her up, lock her in car boot

Some naval officers have attacked a policewoman in the Mushin area of Lagos State. The policewoman, identified as Sergeant Vicky, attached to Lagos State Police Command Traffic Section, was attacked by a naval officer and a rating because she hit the body of their car. Vicky was said to have hit the body of the car after the men refused to heed her signal to halt along Mushin axis. The incident occurred around 1pm on Friday. The naval men, who were in full uniform, angrily stormed out of their car, descended on Vicky with the horsewhip. Although Vicky’s boss was at the scene, he seemed too petrified to render a helping hand to the policewoman. A source said: “After whipping Vicky, the naval men bundled her into their car and zoomed off. “The horse whip welts were seen on her face. “Her mouth was swollen and her uniform dirty.” It was gathered that moments after the naval men abducted Vicky, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, who were routine patrol, drove to the area. Vicky’s frantic boss signaled the SARS men to stop and narrated the incident. The source said: “The SARS operatives immediately started chasing after the naval men. The incident happened at Mushin area, but the SARS men chased them through Ojuelegba. On climbing the Ijora Bridge, SARS men blocked them. The SARS men asked them why they abducted the police woman. When the policemen didn’t receive a satisfactory answer, they attempted to forcibly drag Vicky out of the naval men’s car.” The argument between naval and policemen caused a gridlock. If the SARS men pull the car door of the naval men open, the naval men would slam it close. In the process, the door handle fell off. The naval rating jumped out of the car and held the vest of one of the SARS men. They started struggling. Other SARS men seized the opportunity and tried to drag Vicky out of the car, but the naval officer repeatedly stopped them. After a tug of war, the SARS men succeeded in pulling Vicky out of the car, but her uniform tore during the pulling between the naval officers and policemen. The naval rating, who still held one of the SARS men, refused to let him go. The SARS operative punched him in the face, leading to fisticuffs. The naval rating was said to have been beaten until he passed out and slumped on the road. The source said: “The news of the clash travelled like wildfire. “Policemen were alerted on air to proceed to the scene and do everything possible to rescue the abducted woman Sergeant. “Police re-enforcement started moving to the scene. “At the same time, naval men and soldiers started appearing from nowhere. “Some of them stepped down from commercial buses, moving towards the scene of the fracas. “When the SARS men noticed the growing number of naval men and soldiers, they started shooting sporadically. “They even shot and perforated the tyres of the car of the two naval men.” The shooting was so intense that motorists, fearing it was an ongoing robbery operation, abandoned their vehicles and scampered for safety. The SARS men drove to Command with Vicky. It was learnt that since the incident, the SARS men have been expecting a debriefing from the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, but he was yet to invite them. There has also been a graveyard silence from the navy and army. When the Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, was contacted about the attack on Sergeant Vicky, he said the command was not aware of it.